Different story in housing co-ops

Dear Republic:

I thought someone would say something about housing co-ops since there are so many located up and down Commercial Drive, and The Republic wants to discuss co-operatives. On second thought, perhaps housing co-ops are a little like those country clubs where discretion and a low profile are the order of the day. They have a lot to be discreet about. Members of 30 years hogging the best suites; members living on subsidy their entire working lives; a closed door to new and hungry people who want basic housing because all the subsidy has been swallowed up; cliques of members who splash funds on their friends; a distinct tilt toward obvious minority groups; the list goes on and on. One psychiatrist told me he gets a lot of referrals about interpersonal problems in co-ops.

So what do members like about co-ops? The rent is cheaper than normal rents (the government is subsidising the whole business to the tune of millions of dollars per year), and if you were on subsidy two years ago at one co-op, you could pay as little as $35 pr month for a decent three bedroom.

Some people like committee work. They make work like writing up drafts for more new rules or policies to be voted on at yet another meeting. They like listening to themselves speak before a sullen crowd (attendance is compulsory), and they feel important. They pipe up about hypothetical situations. They make recommendations without dealing directly with the issue. They gossip. They argue for new paint jobs for their own unit. One committee thought a solar panel system would make a wonderful investment, and so they spent over $60,000 on a doomed project because there’s no proper sunlight in Vancouver. Fortunately, because it was a group effort, no one could be held responsible. Invariably cliques form on these committees, favourtism rules, and the process becomes corrupt.

Some people like seeing the same neighbours all the time—they feel safe. Especially the friends they snuck in through the back door. In one co-op, a woman brought in a boyfriend to live with her, they broke up, and he got his own unit (without having to re-apply as an outsider). The same woman now has several ex’s living in different suites in the co-op.

Some people are work shy, and like living off the subsidized rent year in and year out. In fact, these people often have money left over at the end of the month to buy nice cars. If they’re parents, they feel it is their inalienable right to have free housing and remain full time mothers.

The housing co-ops have become a ghetto for underachievers. They are breeding a generation of adults who have never had to rough it in downtown hotels, never had to work out of town, never had to take risks, and never known real hardship. Far easier for them to blame the government for not providing them a job. Far easier to wear that badge of poverty, and believe the government owes them housing. Somehow this blaming has become part of the co-operative principle, where tenants theoretically control the conditions of their housing, and who, after all, doesn’t want a little dignity? No one likes a creepy landlord withholding your rent deposit because of a burn on the rug. No one should have to pay usurous rents to some yuppies with a second home investment.

There must be a happy median between co-operative and private housing in Vancouver. One possibility is BC Housing, where the government spends a token amount on the real underclass and retains control of the housing with proper management. We also need more good Samaritan housing societies, where philanthropists provide modest housing projects. And finally, we need to encourage landlords to provide decent, affordable housing. Ultimately, the co-operative housing model has only produced an elite of tenancies at a great cost. It is the equivalent of playing house with someone else’s money.

- Name withheld by request

Bedouins enjoy life

Dear Republic:

The Republic has sunk to a new low with the publishing of the highly inaccurate and inflammatory article on the Bedouins in the Negev (see issue 94). Chris LaVigne’s exclusive source is a member of the ISM (The International Solidarity for The Palestinian Movement), an organization whose own web site states that its mission statement is to support the overthrow of the Israeli “occupation” through any (including violent) means. Recent evidence indicates that  ISM “supporters”  are suspected of harbouring and aiding members of Palestinian terrorist groups to complete their missions of murder. Yet this is LaVigne’s only source.

There are presently 160,000 Bedouins in Israel. The Bedouins, a Muslim tribe that prided itself on its independence, have been allied with the Jewish people since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1917. The two groups remained close during British rule and cemented their social and economic relationships after Israel achieved independence in 1948, spurring the rising wave of Arab nationalism in the Middle East. Bedouins serve in Israel's Army, police force, can own property, and have the right to vote.

Bedouins are committed to the state of Israel. With the creation of Israel in 1948, leaders of the state "designed a Jewish-Bedouin relationship" incorporating Bedouins into Israeli democracy and bureaucracy. Israel, as the only democracy in the Middle East, treats Bedouins, part of the Arab/Muslim minority, as equal citizens.

Although it is currently politically fashionable to support the Palestinian cause without qualification and vilify Israel, I would expect The Republic to properly analyze issues that arise from this extremely complex dispute without merely parroting propaganda from a pro-Palestinian lobby group.

- Peter J  Nadler, Vancouver, BC

Coalition of the wise

Dear Republic:

Below is an open letter to Liberal Members of Parliament Bonnie Brown (Oakville, Ontario), Lynn Myers (Kitchener—Conestoga, Ontario), and Carolyn Parrish (Mississauga--Erindale, Ontario)

Thank you for your on-going, earnest efforts to bring forward an accountable, humane and peaceful decision-making process to the Liberal government with regards to your party’s possible endorsement of the US missile defence system. It is essential that thorough, transparent and diverse discussion continues surrounding these fundamental matters of human health, safety and justice. Weaponry of any kind is by its nature dangerous, designed to harm and kill, and oblivious to which life-forms it strikes—either intentionally, or unintentionally.

As both a citizen of Canada and a registered Conscientious Objector, I have found that a useful way to register my discontent is to divert that portion of my taxes (approximately 7.93%), which could possibly be used in aid of such nefarious adventures as this proposed US missile defence system, to a Peace Tax Fund. This amount is then held in trust by such groups as Conscience Canada, although on both occasions I have had the withheld amount deducted from either a GST refund or a tax refund due to me in the following year.

I am actively suggesting to and encouraging many other Canadians who work for peace and do not support such an aggressive, destabilising initiative to divert their taxes likewise. We can only vote at election time; in between, one of the most potent acts we can take as caring individuals in our communities is to democratically, responsibly and peacefully hold our elected representatives accountable through the parliamentary system.

While we take these actions, I continue to support you in your opposition to Canada joining the U. missile defence system, and encourage your every effort to work within the Government and the Liberal Party to prevent Canada from joining this expensive and dangerous system. Together I hope we can affect positive, sustainable and peaceful results.

Your Canadian government website pages indicate that you have all been teachers, and I take heart that your integrity on this matter is such a good example for those of us going into your profession. I welcome any response you may have time to give.

See members.shaw.ca/consciencecanada/trustfund

- Kari Hewett, Vancouver

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